2019 Adopted Westside Park Master Plan
At the August 5, 2019, Parks Advisory Board Meeting, Todd Larson, Dave Mingo, and Eric Ambroson, from Planning and Development District III, presented a Westside Park Master Plan to the board and community members.
After a few minor changes to the plan, due to input received at the meeting, a proposed master plan was prepared for the City Commission's August 26, 2019, meeting.
Click here for the Westside Park Master Plan.
Click here for additional images from the Westside Park Master Plan.
The plan was adopted by the City Commission.
The process to develop this master plan began in April. A public meeting was held, and public input was gathered. A visual preference survey was utilized at the first public meeting and was also made available online after the public meeting. Over 300 responses to the survey were collected. In May, three different visuals were created to incorporate items that were brought forward by the public. These three different visuals were also placed online so we could gather public feedback. Over 250 responses to the survey were collected.
After analyzing the responses collected through the public meetings, online surveys, phone calls, and emails, a master plan was created. The master plan was based on the realization that public feedback told us people like the park the way it is but they would like to see some improvements to the current facilities and maybe a few additional amenities to make it more attractive to the community.
According to the Project for Public Spaces (PPS), “In evaluating thousands of public spaces around the world, PPS has found that to be successful, the public spaces generally share the following four qualities: 1) the spaces are accessible to all people and inclusive of the diversity of groups present in a city; 2) people are engaged in activities in the space; 3) the space is comfortable and has a good image; and 4) it is a sociable space where people meet each other and they also take people when they come to visit.”
Therefore, utilizing those principles, ideas incorporated into this master plan as gathered from the public’s input include additional meandering walking trails throughout the park. Nationwide, adding walking trails is the number one request when designing parks and recreational green space. Our citizen’s like the island but would like to see its landscape wall improved. People like the water and the wildlife so they have requested the pond be cleaned. They would like us to continue to work with SD Game, Fish, & Parks to stock fish in the pond to give youth the opportunity to fish. An ADA accessible fishing pier would be part of the future park improvements. A new walking bridge linking the mainland with the island is a key improvement. Adding a second fountain in the pond to the south of the island is a part of this plan. Along with the new trails in the park, lighting of the trails for safety and also improving the lights found at the basketball court was requested. The play structures in the park need to be updated and as a part of the plan they would be relocated to the area north of the basketball court. This land is fairly flat and would take minimal grading to allow for the play equipment. It also keeps the play area away from the pond, so children do not have easy access to the water if they escape the watch of their parents or guardians. A four-season shelter with a kitchenette was requested. This new shelter would also include new restrooms to serve the north side of the park. Having restrooms on both sides of the park was brought forward and a second restroom building is shown to the south of the current shelter on the south side of the park. The skate park remains as do the tennis courts (which have pickle ball lines painted on them). In between the skate park and the tennis courts is an underutilized green space, and the master plans show the addition of a bocce ball court in this area. An expanded parking lot is shown on the west side of the park. It is important to note that on-street parking is available along the MMC training field to the north, along the east side of spruce on the east side of the park, and along both sides of 5th Street on the south. The addition of a small open air shelter is shown by the south parking lot and basketball court area. Other smaller improvements that are not all visible upon this schematic include: more seating around the pond and along the meandering trails, the possible addition of hammocks amongst the trees on the east side of the park, way-faring signs in the park to give people distances along the trail, more dog-waste bag dispensers, duck feed vending machines, signs educating the public on what to feed geese and ducks and what not to feed them, more waste receptacles and recycling receptacles, additional drinking fountains, bike racks, and plaques to educate the public on the history of the park and the history of the pond. The last item that was discussed, but does not appear on the plan and would have to be discussed more in the future would be the addition of a disc golf 9-hole course designed specifically as a “children’s course.”
There are no cost estimates for any of these improvements. The timeline for making all of these items a reality would be fifteen to twenty years if funding is prioritized by future City Commissions.
